Miguel "Anga" Diaz
1961-2006

Cuban master percussionist Miguel "Anga" Diaz was a musician of incredible
knowledge and ability who has developed a complete mastery of the congas. Known for his
remarkable soloing and muli-conga/percussion inventions, Anga has recorded and toured with
The Afro-Cuban All-Stars, Ruben Gonzales, Irakere, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Steve Coleman, Roy
Hargrove, Tito Puente, David Sanchez...

Cuban percussionist Miguel "Angá" Diaz, an acclaimed conga
master who perfected a dazzling five-drum technique with a versatility
that allowed him to span genres from progressive jazz to traditional
Afro-Cuban standards, has died. He was 45.

Diaz, who was also a composer and arranger, suffered a heart attack
Wednesday at his home in San Sadurní d'Anoia, a small town east of
Barcelona, where he had recently moved in search of a more serene
lifestyle. His body was discovered by a student who had gone to the home
for a lesson, according to a spokesman for his label, London-based World
Circuit records.

The news came as a shock in music circles, where Diaz is hailed as
one of the world's leading exponents of Afro-Cuban percussion, a complex
and physically demanding discipline.

Friends who had talked to Diaz a few hours before his death said he was
in good spirits with a full agenda of touring and recording, including a
show with the Cuban fusion group Síntesis scheduled for that night.
During a stop in London earlier this year, the musician was ebullient
with new ideas and excited about future projects, said World Circuit
owner Nick Gold, a co-producer of Diaz's debut album as a bandleader,
2005's boldly experimental "Echu Mingua."

Gold met Diaz in Havana in 1996 during the first recording session by
the Afro-Cuban All Stars, a precursor to the Buena Vista Social Club.
Gold regularly called on Diaz to work on solo albums by Buena Vista
alumni, including singer Ibrahim Ferrer, bassist Orlando "Cachaito"
Lopez and guitarists Ry Cooder and Manuel Galbán.

"After working with Angá as a conga player, no one else would
do," Gold said Friday by phone from England. "Technically, he
was just extraordinary. And he seemed to have no musical barriers
whatsoever."

Jazz pianist Omar Sosa, who is also based in Barcelona and toured
frequently with Diaz in his group, said the conga player had evolved far
beyond his traditional instrument. For a time, recalled Sosa, Diaz even
expropriated a Gymboree toy from his son because it made a unique
wave-like sound the percussionist liked.

"He was always creative, that's for sure," said Sosa, whose
upcoming CD, "Live à FIP," features Angá on a complex of
percussion instruments. "It's astounding how many sonic colors you
hear in his work. The knowledge he had, the wisdom, was just gigantic.
He understood the entire language of Afro-Cuban percussion."

Sosa spoke by phone Friday from Barcelona shortly after an emotional
funeral service for Diaz that featured a performance of the
heart-wrenching bolero "Toda Una Vida" ("All Life
Long") by Diaz's brother and bandmate, Juan "El Indio."
The artist's remains were to be cremated and his ashes sent back to
Cuba, where his parents live in his childhood home.

Miguel Aurelio Díaz Zayas was born in 1961 in San Juan y Martinez in
Pinar del Rio province. He inherited his nickname from his father,
Aurelio Diaz Fernandes, the original Angá.

He showed prodigious talent as a child and started formal percussion
studies by the age of 10. Four years later, he earned a scholarship to
the National School of Art in Havana, where he also had the chance to
work with renowned Cuban conguero Tata Güines and drummer Guillermo
Barretto.

After college, he launched his professional career with the avant-garde
group Opus 13, touring and recording with them for nine years, mostly in
the 1980s. It was a period of intense experimentation in Cuban dance
music, a prelude to the historic explosion of Afro-Cuban dance bands in
the 1990s.

When the explosion came, Diaz was at the epicenter as percussionist with
Irakere, Cuba's preeminent progressive band, led by pianist Chucho Valdés.
Diaz had the challenging task of replacing the band's original
percussionist, the late Jorge "El Nino" Alfonso.

"Those were big shoes to fill, but Angá pulled it off," said
Raul Pineda, a former member of Valdés' quartet who lives in Los
Angeles. "It was difficult both musically and physically, because
of Irakere's challenging arrangements and because in Cuba, unlike here,
bands would play for three hours straight."

It was in Irakere that Diaz perfected the five-conga technique used by
his predecessor.

"He could do things [on congas] that could only be dreamed of
before he came on the scene," said Paul de Castro, an expert in
Afro-Latin music who teaches at Cal State L.A. "Angá was one of
the innovators in conga technique."

Diaz went on his own in 1994, recording "Pasaporte" with his
conga hero, Güines. He set up a home in Paris, where he married,
started a family and eventually became a French citizen, dividing his
time between France and Cuba.

In 1996, he joined Roy Hargrove's band Crisol, recording on the U.S.
trumpeter's Grammy-winning album, "Habana." He went on to
record with a diverse set of artists, from the biting debut album by
Cuba's hip-hop trio Orishas to graceful works by Buena Vista veterans
Ruben Gonzalez and Omara Portuondo.

After moving to Barcelona in 2003, Diaz kept up an intense schedule of
work. A week before his death, Diaz appeared in Barcelona with his new
ensemble, fusing popular Brazilian music with Afro-Cuban jazz. He also
recently formed a trio with Cachaito and flamenco pianist Chano
Dominguez. And the new live album, recorded by Radio France, is due for
release Oct. 10 on Sosa's Otá Records.

In addition to his father and brother, Diaz is survived by his mother,
Maria Luisa Zayas Hernandez; twin 12-year-old daughters, Lisa and Naomi
of Paris; and their half sister, Yanira, 22, of Miami.

World Circuit are shocked and saddened to
announce the death of the great Cuban conga player Miguel ‘Angá’ Díaz
who died unexpectedly at his home in Barcelona on 9th August 2006, he was
45.

With his explosive soloing and inventive
five conga patterns, Angá’ was widely regarded as one of the world’s
great congueros. He was committed to the development of the conga drum,
breaking down traditional percussion barriers to perform traditional latin
rhythms, jazz, jungle and hip-hop, whilst retaining his distinctly Cuban
roots.

Angá began playing prodigiously early,
performing and recording professionally whilst still at college. He made
his name as part of the pioneering Latin jazz group Irakere and it was
with them he perfected his five drum technique. Emerging in the
mid-nineties as an independent musician Angá was free to diversify and
pursue a variety of different projects - from the experimental jazz of
Steve Coleman and Roy Hargrove, to hip hop with Orishas, to his tours with
Omar Sosa, and numerous side projects with musicians from all over the
globe, Angá’s musical journey was a personal quest to explore and
create new sounds and rhythmic fusions.

More than just a performer, Angá further
demonstrated his commitment to the development of his instrument by
teaching master classes at various schools and universities across North
America and Europe. Angá produced a tuition video in 2000 which explained
many of his techniques and his philosophy behind playing, it won
Percussion Video of the Year from Drum Magazine. Angá would continue to
teach on a regular basis and built up a network of students from his base
outside of Barcelona.

Angá’s first project with World Circuit
was the hugely influential Afro Cuban All Stars album recorded in 1996
which showcased the depth and vitality within Cuban music. Angá became an
integral part of World Circuit’s extended Buena Vista family adding his
trademark sound to albums from Rubén González, Ibrahim Ferrer, Omara
Portuondo, Guajiro Mirabal, and the second Afro Cuban All Stars record.
Angá’s own musical vision would emerge with the release of the album
‘Cachaíto’ an inspired union of Afro-Cuban jazz, reggae, hip hop and
funk which he recorded with the Cuban bass legend Cachaíto López.
Building from the foundations laid by Cachaíto’s record, and
incorporating elements of his own Santeria religion, Angá would finally
fulfil his dream in 2005 with the release of his critically acclaimed
album ‘Echu Mingua’, an exciting fusion of styles blended together the
‘Cuban way’ and is a fitting testament to the career of one of the
great musical innovators.

Angá was an irrepressible character with
a larger than life personality, whose beaming grin and booming laugh were
matched by a warmth and humility that touched all of those lucky enough to
know him. He will be sorely missed.